Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) Price Target Cut to $152.00 by Analysts at Morgan Stanley

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) had its price objective cut by Morgan Stanley from $197.00 to $152.00 in a report released on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the asset manager’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on the company. JMP Securities upgraded Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to a “market outperform” rating and set a $165.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of Ares Management from $188.00 to $166.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Ares Management from $221.00 to $201.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 4th. Citizens Jmp upgraded Ares Management from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on Ares Management from $217.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $165.40.

Ares Management Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of ARES opened at $138.36 on Monday. Ares Management has a 12 month low of $110.63 and a 12 month high of $200.49. The firm has a market cap of $43.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 68.16, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $156.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $168.93.

Ares Management (NYSE:ARES) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The asset manager reported $1.23 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.35 by ($0.12). Ares Management had a net margin of 11.35% and a return on equity of 16.64%. Analysts predict that Ares Management will post 5.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ares Management Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th were paid a $1.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $4.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.24%. This is a positive change from Ares Management’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.93. Ares Management’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 183.25%.

Insider Transactions at Ares Management

In related news, insider R. Kipp Deveer sold 78,933 shares of Ares Management stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.02, for a total value of $14,998,848.66. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 1,150,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $218,523,000. The trade was a 6.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Michael J. Arougheti sold 110,845 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $153.17, for a total value of $16,978,128.65. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,400,000 shares in the company, valued at $214,438,000. This trade represents a 7.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 329,113 shares of company stock valued at $54,409,915. Corporate insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ares Management by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,807,718 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $3,329,530,000 after buying an additional 907,757 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its stake in Ares Management by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 10,753,779 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,903,741,000 after buying an additional 223,919 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Ares Management by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 8,277,879 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,465,433,000 after buying an additional 33,700 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 12.8% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,109,070 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $1,258,519,000 after buying an additional 807,361 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of Ares Management by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,126,442 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $907,534,000 after purchasing an additional 66,671 shares in the last quarter. 50.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Ares Management

Ares Management Corporation operates as an alternative asset manager in the United States, Europe, and Asia. The company's Tradable Credit Group segment manages various types of investment funds, such as commingled and separately managed accounts for institutional investors, and publicly traded vehicles and sub-advised funds for retail investors in the tradable and non-investment grade corporate credit markets.